Quick Definition
κόσμος, ου, ὁ n.m. the world, universe
Strong's Definition
probably from the base of 2865; orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration; by implication, the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively (morally))
KJV Usage: adorning, world
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, m. | -ου | κοσμέω
1.1 · Geographical Objects and Features · Universe, Creation
cosmos, universe the universe as an ordered structure In many languages there is no specific term for the universe. The closest equivalent may simply be ‘all that exists.’ In other instances one may use a phrase such as ‘the world and all that is above it’ or ‘the sky and the earth.’ The concept of the totality of the universe may be expressed in some languages only as ‘everything that is on the earth and in the sky.’
MAT 24:21 · MAT 25:34 · LUK 11:50 · JHN 1:10 · JHN 17:5 · JHN 17:24 · ACT 17:24 · ROM 1:20 · 1CO 3:22 · 1CO 8:4 · EPH 1:4 · HEB 4:3 · HEB 9:26 · REV 13:8 · REV 17:8
1.39 · Geographical Objects and Features · The Earth's Surface
earth, world the surface of the earth as the dwelling place of mankind, in contrast with the heavens above and the world below
MAT 4:8 · MAT 13:38 · MAT 16:26 · MAT 26:13 · MRK 8:36 · MRK 16:15 · LUK 9:25 · LUK 12:30 · JHN 1:9 · JHN 1:10 · JHN 6:14 · JHN 11:9 · JHN 11:27 · JHN 12:25 · JHN 12:46 · JHN 13:1 · JHN 13:1 · JHN 16:28 · JHN 16:28 · JHN 16:33 · JHN 17:11 · JHN 17:11 · JHN 17:13 · JHN 17:15 · JHN 18:37 · JHN 21:25 · ROM 1:8 · ROM 4:13 · ROM 11:12 · ROM 11:15 · 1CO 1:28 · 1CO 4:13 · 1CO 7:34 · 1CO 14:10 · COL 1:6 · 1TI 1:15 · 1TI 3:16 · 1TI 6:7 · HEB 4:3 · HEB 9:26 · HEB 10:5 · JAS 2:5 · 1PE 1:20 · 1PE 5:9 · 2PE 1:4 · 2PE 2:5 · 2PE 3:6 · 1JN 2:15 · 1JN 2:16 · 1JN 2:17 · 1JN 4:9 · REV 11:15
41.38 · Behavior and Related States · Particular Patterns of Behavior
world system, the world’s standards, world the way humans typically conduct themselves in the world; the way things typically happen in human society It may be particularly difficult to speak of the world being crucified (GAL 6:14), and therefore in a number of languages one must employ a somewhat fuller restructuring, for example, ‘because of Christ, the way in which people in this world live is as though it were dead as far as I am concerned, and I am dead, so to speak, as far as the way in which people in this world live.’
JHN 8:23 · JHN 8:23 · JHN 9:39 · JHN 12:31 · JHN 12:31 · JHN 14:27 · JHN 14:30 · JHN 15:19 · JHN 15:19 · JHN 15:19 · JHN 16:11 · JHN 16:33 · JHN 17:14 · JHN 17:14 · JHN 17:16 · JHN 17:16 · JHN 18:36 · JHN 18:36 · 1CO 1:20 · 1CO 1:21 · 1CO 1:27 · 1CO 1:27 · 1CO 2:12 · 1CO 3:19 · 1CO 5:10 · 1CO 5:10 · 1CO 7:31 · 1CO 7:31 · 1CO 7:33 · 2CO 7:10 · GAL 4:3 · GAL 6:14 · GAL 6:14 · EPH 2:12 · COL 2:8 · COL 2:20 · COL 2:20 · HEB 11:7 · JAS 1:27 · JAS 4:4 · JAS 4:4 · 2PE 2:5 · 2PE 2:20 · 1JN 2:15 · 1JN 2:15 · 1JN 2:15 · 1JN 2:16 · 1JN 2:16 · 1JN 2:17 · 1JN 3:17 · 1JN 4:4 · 1JN 4:5 · 1JN 4:5 · 1JN 4:5 · 1JN 4:17 · 1JN 5:4 · 1JN 5:4 · 1JN 5:5 · 1JN 5:19 · 2JN 1:7
9.23 · People · Human Beings
people of the world (a figurative extension of meaning of κόσμος[a] ‘cosmos, universe,’ 1.1) people associated with a world system and estranged from God
MAT 5:14 · MAT 18:7 · MRK 14:9 · JHN 1:10 · JHN 1:29 · JHN 3:16 · JHN 3:17 · JHN 3:17 · JHN 3:17 · JHN 3:19 · JHN 4:42 · JHN 6:33 · JHN 6:51 · JHN 7:4 · JHN 7:7 · JHN 8:12 · JHN 8:26 · JHN 9:5 · JHN 9:5 · JHN 10:36 · JHN 12:19 · JHN 12:47 · JHN 12:47 · JHN 14:17 · JHN 14:19 · JHN 14:22 · JHN 14:31 · JHN 15:18 · JHN 15:19 · JHN 15:19 · JHN 16:8 · JHN 16:20 · JHN 16:21 · JHN 17:6 · JHN 17:9 · JHN 17:14 · JHN 17:18 · JHN 17:18 · JHN 17:21 · JHN 17:23 · JHN 17:25 · JHN 18:20 · ROM 3:6 · ROM 3:19 · ROM 5:12 · ROM 5:13 · 1CO 4:9 · 1CO 6:2 · 1CO 6:2 · 1CO 11:32 · 2CO 1:12 · 2CO 5:19 · PHP 2:15 · HEB 11:7 · HEB 11:38 · JAS 2:5 · 1JN 2:2 · 1JN 3:1 · 1JN 3:13 · 1JN 4:1 · 1JN 4:3 · 1JN 4:14
79.12 · Features of Objects · Beautiful, Ugly
to beautify, to adorn, to decorate, adornment, adorning to cause something to be beautiful by decorating For another interpretation of κόσμος in 1PE 3:3, see 6.188.
6.188 · Artifacts · Adornments
adornment an object which serves to adorn or beautify Adornments may be described as ‘things to make one look beautiful’ or ‘things with which one tries to appear attractive.’ For another interpretation of κόσμος in 1PE 3:3, see 79.12.
59.55 · Quantity · Abundance, Excess, Sparing
a world of, a tremendous amount of (a figurative extension of meaning of κόσμος[a] ‘world, universe,’ 1.1) a great sum of something, implying an almost incredible totality In some languages the phrase ὁ κόσμος τῆς ἀδικίας may be rendered as ‘the very symbol of evil,’ ‘a sign of what is truly evil,’ or ‘what is completely evil.’
12.44 · Supernatural Beings and Powers · Supernatural Powers
Collocation: αἰὼν τοῦ κόσμου τούτου
power, authority, lordship, ruler, wicked force title for supernatural forces and powers: a supernatural power having some particular role in controlling the destiny and activities of human beings Some scholars have believed that it is possible to reconstruct at least in part some of the hierarchy represented by these various supernatural forces and powers, on the basis of the neoplatonic system of nine such powers arranged in three orders of three each. NT terminology and usage does not, however, lend itself to such a classification, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine what are the significant differences between these supernatural powers and forces.
For the most part, translators have endeavored to render the various terms in somewhat different ways, for example, ἐξουσία as ‘authority’; δύναμις as ‘power’; κυριότης as ‘ruler’; and phrases such as τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις as ‘wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world.’ In a number of languages, however, there are simply not enough terms to designate various kinds of powers, authorities, and forces which could be employed in speaking of such supernatural impersonal powers. Accordingly, some translators have simply used a phrase such as ‘any and all kinds of supernatural powers.’ Where it is possible to make certain lexical distinctions between terms and phrases, this, of course, should be done, but in a number of contexts this may be impossible, and accordingly, some explanation in a marginal note may be required if the reader is to understand satisfactorily the intent of the passages in question.
In some instances a measure of meaning may be obtained by somewhat paraphrastic expressions. For example, EPH 2:2 is rendered in some languages as ‘at that time you lived in the way in which the spirit that governs this world dictated you should live. This is the way the one who rules over the power in space commanded you to live. This is the very spirit that now commands the people who disobey God.’
1 The occurrences of γῆ[a], οἰκουμένη[a], and κόσμος[b] relate specifically to the known inhabited areas of the earth, which in the NT period included the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, the Fertile Crescent as far as the Indus Valley, and as far north in Europe as England and Scandinavia. This was the total known earth or world. Such a restriction to a known area of the earth is also true of terms used in some receptor languages, though the referents are obviously different. What is important is not the particular area of the earth, but the corresponding concept of the surface of the earth as the place of human habitation. It is possible that οἰκουμένη[a] differs slightly in meaning from γῆ[a] and κόσμος[b] in view of a somewhat greater emphasis or focus upon the civilized part of earth. 2 1CO 6:2 · 1CO 6:2 It is possible to understand κόσμος in 1CO 6:2 as referring to all mankind, but in view of certain contrasts which are implied in this context, it seems more satisfactory to understand κόσμος in a more limited sense of ‘people of the world.’ 3 κόσμος[f] may be regarded as a highly generic term for any and all kinds of decorations and adornments; or it may be considered as the process whereby people may adorn themselves (see 79.12). κόσμος[f] is semantically complex, since it involves not only certain artifacts and the use of such artifacts, but also an abstract component of attractive appearance.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
κόσμος, -ου, ὃ; 1. in Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down, an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order. 2. asin Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down, ornament, decoration, adornment: évdicews ἱματίων, 1 Pet. iii. 3 (Sir. vi. 30; xxi. 21; 2 Mace. ii. 2: Sept. for nay of the arrangement of the stars, ‘the heavenly hosts,’ as the ornament of the heavens, Gen. ii. 1; Deut. iv. 19; xvii. 3; Is. xxiv. 21; xl. 26; besides occasionally for “y; twice for NINDA, Prov. xx. 29; Is. iii. 19). 3. the world, i. e. the universe (quem κόσμον Graeci nomine ornamenti appellarunt, eum nos a perfecta absolutaque elegantia mundum, Plin. h. n. 2, 3; in which sense Pythagoras is said to have been the first to use the word, Plut. de place. philos. 2, 1, 1 p. 886 ¢.; but ace. to other accounts he used it of the heavens, Diog. L. 8, 48, of which it is used several times also by other Grk. writ. [see Menag. on Diog. Laért.l. c.; Bentley, Epp. of Phalar. vol. i. 391 (Lond. 1836); M. Anton. 4, 27 and Gataker’s notes; ef. L. and S.s.v.1V.]): Acts xvii. 24; Ro. iv. 13 (where cf. Meyer, Tholuck, Philippi); 1 Co. iii. 22; viii. 4; Phil. ii. 15; with a predominant notion of space, in hyperbole, Jn. xxi. 25 (Sap. vii. 17; ix. 3; 2 Mace. viii. 18; κτίζειν τ. κόσμον, Sap. xi. 18; ὁ τοῦ κόσμου κτίστης, 2 Mace. vii. 23; 4 Mace. v. 25 (24) ;—asense in which it does not occur in the other O. T. books, although there is something akin to it in Prov. xvii. 6, on which see 8 below); in the phrases πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι, Jn. xvii. 5; ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου [ Mt. xiii. 35 RG; xxv. 34; Lk. xi. 50; Heb. iv. 3; ix. 26; Rev. xiii. 8; xvii. 8] and πρὸ κατ. κόσμου [Jn. xvii. 24; Eph. 1. 4; 1 Pet. i. 20], (on which see καταβολή, 2); ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου, Ro. i. 20; ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς x. Mt. xxiv. 21; (on the om. of the art. cf. W. p- 123 (117); B. § 124, 8 b.; [ef Ellicott on Gal. vi. 14). 4. the circle of the earth, the earth, (very rarely so in Grk. writ. until after the age of the Ptolemies; so in Boeckh, Corp. inserr. i. pp. 413 and 643, nos. 334 and 1306): Mk. xvi.15; [Jn. xii. 25]; 1 Tim. vi. 7; βασιλεία τοῦ κόσμου, Rey. xi. 15; βασιλεῖαι (plur.) τ. κόσμου, Mt. iv. 8 (for which Lk. iv. 5 τῆς οἰκουμένης) ; τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, of the sun, Jn. xi. 9: ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κι, properly, Mt. xxvi. 13; hyperbolically, i. q. far and wide, in widely separated places, Ro. i. 8; [so ἐν παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ, Col. i. 6]; ὁ τότε κύσμος, 2 Pet. iii. 6; the earth with its inhabitants: Ov ἐν xiepw, opp. to the dead, Col. ii. 20 (λῃστὴς ἦν καὶ κλέπτης ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, i. 6. among those living on earth, Ey. Nicod. 26). By a usage foreign to prof. auth. 5. the inhabitants of the world: θέατρον ἐγενήθημεν TO κόσμῳ καὶ ἀγγέλοις k. ἀνθρώποις, 1 Co. iv. 9 [W. 127 (121)]; particularly the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human race (first so in Sap. [e.g.x.1]): Mt. xiii. 38; xviii. 7; Mk. xiv. 9; Jn. i. 10, 29, [36 Lin br.]; iii. 16 sq.; vi. 33,51; Vili. 263; xii. 47; ΧΗ 1; xiv. 31; xvi. 28; xvii. 6, 21, 23; Ro. iii. 6, 19; 1 Co. i. 27 sq. [ef. W. 189 (178) ]; iv. 13; v. 10; xiv. 10; 2 Co.v. 19; Jas. ii. 5 [ef. W.u.s.]; 1 Jn. ii. 2 [ef. W. 577 (536) ]; ἀρχαῖος κόσμος, of the antediluvians, 2 Pet. ii. 5; γεννᾶσθαι εἰς τ. x. Jn. xvi. 21; ἔρχεσθαι εἰς τὸν κόσμον (Jn. ix. 39) and εἰς τ. x. τοῦτον, to make its appearance or come into existence among men, spoken of the light which in Christ shone upon men, Jn. i. 9; ili. 19, ef. xii. 46 ; of the Messiah, Jn. vi. 14; xi. 27; of Jesus as the Messiah, Jn. ix. 39; xvi. 283; xviii. 37; 1 Tim. i. 15; also εἰσέρχεσθαι εἰς τ. x. Heb. x. 5; of false teachers, 2 Jn. 7 (yet here L T Tr WH ἐξέρχ. εἰς τ. x.; [so all texts in 1 Jn. iv. 1]); to invade, of evils coming into existence among men and beginning to exert their power: of sin and death, Ro. v. 12 (of death, Sap. ii. 24; Clem. Rom. 1 Cor. 3,4; of idolatry, Sap. xiv. 14). ἀποστέλλειν τινὰ eis τ. κι, Jn. iii. 175 x. 36; xvii. 18; 1Jn.iv.9; φῶς τ. κ-» Mt. v. 14; Jn. viii. 12; ix. 5; σωτὴρ τ. x, Jn. iv. 42; 1 Jn. iv. 14, (σωτηρία τοῦ x. Sap. vi. 26 (25); ἐλπὶς τ. κ' Sap. xiv. 6; πρωτόπλαστος πατὴρ τοῦ x., of Adam, Sap. X. 1); στοιχεῖα τοῦ K. (see στοιχεῖον, 3 and 4); ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, among men, Jn. xvi. 33; xvii. 18: Eph. 11. 12; ἐν κόσμῳ (see W. 123 (117)), 1 Tim. iii. 16; εἶναι ἐν τῷ x., to dwell among men, Jn. i. 10; ix. 5; xvii. 11,12 RG; 1 Jn. iv. 3; εἶναι ἐν κόσμῳ, to be present, Ro. v. 13; ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, to withdraw from human society and seek an abode outside of it, 1 Co. v. 10; ἀναστρέφεσθαι ἐν τῷ x., to behave one’s self, 2 Co. i. 12; likewise εἶναι ἐν τῷ k. Toure, 1 Jn. iv. 17. used spec. of the Gentiles collectively, Ro. xi. 12 (where it alternates with ra ἔθνη), 15; [the two in combination: τὰ ἔθνη τοῦ κόσμου, Lk. xii. 30]. hyperbolically or loosely i. q. the majority of men in a place, the multitude or mass (as we say the public): Jn. vii. 4; xii. 19 [here Trmrg. adds ὅλος in br.]; xiv. 19, 22; xviii. 20. 1. 4. the entire number, ἀσεβῶν, 2 Pet. 11. 5. 6. the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ [ef. W. 26]: Jn. vii. 7; xiv. [17], 27; xv. 18 sq-; xvi. 8, 20, 33; xvii. 9,14 sq. 25; 1 Co.i. 21; vi. 2; xi. 32; 2 Co. vii. 10; Jas.i.27; 1 Pet.v. 9; 2 Pet. i. 4; ii. 20; 1 Jn. iii. 1,13; iv. 5; v.19; of the aggregate of ungodly and wicked men in O. T. times, Heb. xi. 38; in Noah’s time, ibid. 7; with οὗτος added, Eph. ii. 2 (on which see αἰών, 3); εἶναι ἐκ τοῦ x. and ἐκ τοῦ K. τούτου (see εἰμί, V. 3d.), Jn. viii. 23; xv. 19: xvii. 14, 16; 1 Jn. ἵν. ὃ; λαλεῖν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, to speak in accordance with the world’s character and mode of thinking, 1 Jn. iv. 5; ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ x. τούτου. i. 6. the devil, Jn. xii. 31; xiv. 30; xvi. 11; ὁ ἐν τῷ x. he that is operative in the world (also of the devil), 1 Jn. iv. 4 ; τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ x. 1 Co. ii. 12; ἡ σοφία τοῦ x. τούτου, ibid. i. 20 [here GLTTr WH om. rotr.]; iii-19. [τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόopov, Gal. iv. 3; Col. ii. 8, 20, (see 5 above, and στοιχεῖον, 3 and 4).] 7. worldly affairs; the aggregate of things earthly; the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, ete., which, although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ: Gal. vi. 14; 1 Jn. ii. 16 sq.; iii. 17; εἶναι ἐκ τοῦ κι» to be of earthly origin and nature, Jn. xviii. 36; somewhat differently in 1 Jn. ii. 16 (on which see εἰμί, Υ΄. 8 ἃ.) ; κερδαίνειν τὸν κ' ὅλον, Mt. xvi. 26; Mk. viii. 36; Lk. ix. 25; of χρώμενοι τῷ k. τούτῳ [crit. txt. τὸν κόσμον ; see xpdopat, 2], 1 Co. Vii. 31°; μεριμνᾶν τὰ τοῦ K. 33 sq.; φίλος and φιλία τοῦ x. Jas. iv. 4; ἀγαπᾶν τὸν x. 1 Jn. ii. 15; νικᾶν τὸν κι, the incentives to sin proceeding from the world, 1 Jn. v. 4 sq.; the obstacles to God’s cause, Jn. xvi. 33; [ef. ἐλθέτω χάρις k. παρελθέτω ὁ κόσμος οὗτος, Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, ο. 10]. 8. any aggregate or general collection of particulars of any sort [cf. Eng. “a world of curses ” (Shakspere), ete.]: ὁ κόσμος τῆς ἀδικίας, the sum of all iniquities, Jas. iii. 6 ; rod πιστοῦ ὅλυς ὁ κόσμος τῶν χρημάτων, τοῦ δὲ ἀπίστου οὐδὲ ὀβολός (a statement due to the Alex. translator), Prov. xvii. θ. Among the N. T. writers no one uses κόσμος oftener than John; it occurs in Mark three times, in Luke’s writings four times. and in the Apocalypse three times. Cf. Kreiss, Sur le sens du mot κόσμος dans le N. T. (Strasb. 1837); Diisterdieck on 1 Jn. ii. 15, pp. 247-259; Zezschwitz, Profangriicitiit τ. bibl. Sprachgeist, p. 21 sqq.; Diestel in Herzog xvii. p- 676 sqq.; [ Trench, Syn. § lix.]; on John’s use of the word cf. Reuss, Histoire de la théologie chrétienne au siécle apostolique, ii. p. 463 sqq. [i.e. livre vii. ch. viii.]; cf. his Johanneische Theologie, in the Beitrige zu den theol. Wissenschaften, Fase. i. p. 29 sqq.; [Westcott on Jn. i. 10, ‘ Additional Note’].
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
κόσμος kosmos 186x
(1) pr. order, regular disposition; ornament, decoration, embellishment, 1 Pet. 3:3; (2) the world, the material universe, Mt. 13:35; the world, the aggregate of sensitive existence, 1 Cor. 4:9; the lower world, the earth, Mk. 16:15; the world, the aggregate of mankind, Mt. 5:14; the world, the public, Jn. 7:4; in NT the present order of things, the secular world, Jn. 18:36; the human race external to the Jewish nation, the heathen world, Rom. 11:12, 15; the world external to the Christian body, 1 Jn. 3:1, 13; the world or material system of the Mosaic covenant, Gal. 4:3; Col. 2:8, 20
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
κόσμος, -ου, ὁ
[in LXX: Ge 2:1, De 4:19 17:3, Is 24:21 40:26 (צבא), Ex 33:5, 6, Je 2:32 4:30, Ez 7:20 16:11 23:40 (עֲדִי), Is 61:10 (כְּלִי), al., Wi 2:24 and freq., Si 6:30, al;]
order (Hom., Plat., al.).
ornament, adornment, esp. of women (Hom., al.): I Pe 3:3.
Later, the world or universe, as an ordered system (Plat., al.): Ac 17:24, Ro 4:13, I Co 3:22, Phl 2:15, He 4:3, al.
In late writers only, the world, i.e. the earth (= ἡ οἰκουμένη, cf. Mt 4:8 with Lk 4:5): Mt 4:8, Mk 16:[15], Col 2:20, I Ti 6:7, al.; hence by meton., of the human inhabitants of the world: Mt 5:14 13:38, Mk 14:9, Jo 1:10 4:42 12:47, Ro 3:6, I Co 4:13, II Co 5:19, II Pe 2:5, al.;
of worldly affairs or possessions: Mt 16:26, Mk 8:36, Lk 9:25, I Co 7:31, I Jo 2:16, al.;
in ethical sense, of the ungodly: Jo 7:7 14:17, 27, I Co 1:21, Ja 1:27, I Jo 4:4, al.;
metaph.: ὁ κ. τῆς ἀδικίας, Ja 3:6.
SYN.: αἰών, q.v. (cf . also Dalman, Words, 162 ff.; Tr., Syn., § lix; Westc., additional note on Jo 1:10; DB, iv, 938 ff.).
Trench — Synonyms of the New Testament
Κόσμος our Translators have rendered ‘ world’ in every instance but one (1 Pet. iii. 3); αἰών often, though by no means invariably so; for (not to speak of εἰς αἰῶνα) see Ephes. ii. 2, 7; Col.i. 26. It may be a question whether we might not have made more use of ‘age’ in our Version: we have employed it but rarely,—only, indeed, in the two places which I have cited last. ‘Age’ may sound to us inadequate now: but it is quite possible that, so used, it would little by little have expanded and adapted itself to the larger meaning of the Greek word for which it stood. One must regret that, by this or some other like device, our Translators did not mark the difference between κόσμος (=mundus), the world contemplated under aspects of space, and αἰών (=seculum), the same contemplated under aspects of time; for the Latin, no less than the Greek, has two words, where we have, or have acted as though we had, but one. In all those passages (such as Matt. xiii. 39; 1 Cor. x. 11) which speak of the end or consummation of the αἰών (there are none which speak of the end of the κόσμος), as in others which speak of “ the wisdom of this world” (1 Cor. ii. 6), “the god of this world” (2 Cor. iv. 4), “the children of this world” (Luke xvi. 8), it must be admitted that we are losers by the course which we have adopted. Κόσμος, connected with κόμειν, ‘comere,’ “ comptus,’ has a history of much interest in more respects than one. Suidas traces four successive significations through which it passed: σημαίνει δὲ ὁ κόσμος τέσσαρα, εὐπρέπειαν, τόδε τὸ πᾶν, τὴν τάξιν, τὸ πλῆθος παρὰ τῇ Γραφῇ. Originally signifying ‘ornament,’ and obtaining this meaning once in the N. T. (1 Pet. iii. 3), where we render it ‘adorning,’ and hardly obtaining any other in the Old (thus the stars are 0 κόσμος τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, Deut. xvii. 3; Isai. xxiv. 21; cf. xlix. §ux. SYNONYMS OF ΤῊΜ NEW TESTAMENT. 215 18; Jer. iv. 30; Ezek. vii. 20; Ecclus. xliii. 9); from this it passed to that of order, or arrangement (‘lucidus ordo’), or beauty as springing out of these; εὐπρέπεια and τάξις, as Suidas gives it above, or καλλωπισμός, κατασκευή, τάξις, κατάστασις, κάλλος, as Hesychius. Pythagoras is recorded as the first who transferred κόσμος to the sum total of the material universe (for a history of this transfer see a note in Humboldt’s Cosmos, 1846, Engl. edit. p. 371), desiring thereby to express his sense of the beauty and order which are everywhere to be traced therein: so Plutarch (De Plac. Phil. i. 5) tells us; while others report that he called by this name not the whole material universe, but only the heaven; claiming for it this name on the same ground, namely, on that of the well-ordered arrangement which was visible therein (Diogenes Laertius, viii. 48) ; and we often find the word so used ; as by Xenophon, Mem.i.1. 11; by Isocrates, i. 179; by Plato (Zum. 28 Ὁ), who yet employs it also in the larger and what we might call more ideal sense, as embracing and including within itself, and in the bonds of one communion and fellowship heaven and earth and gods and men (Gorg. 508 a) ; by Aristotle (De Mund. 2; and see Bentley, Works, vol. i. p. 3913 vol. ii. p. 117). ‘Mundus’ in Latin,—‘ digestio et ordinatio singularum quarumque rerum formatarum et distinctarum,’ as Augustine (De Gen. ad Lit. c. 3) calls it,—followed in nearly the same track as the Greek κόσμος: giving occasion to profound plays of words, such as ‘O munde immunde,’ in which the same illustrious Church-teacher delights. Thus Pliny (H. N. ii. 3): Quem κόσμον Greci nomine ornamenti appellaverunt, eum nos a perfecté absolutdque elegantid mundum ;” ef. Cicero (De Universo, 10): ‘Hunc hic varietate distinctum bene Greci κόσμον, nos lucentem mundum nominamus ;’ cf. De Nat. Deor. ii. 22; but onthe inferiority as a philosophical expression of ‘mundus’ to κόσμος, see Sayce, Principles of Comparative Philology, p.98. From this signification of κόσμος as the material uni216 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § ux. verse, which is frequent in Scripture (Matt. xiii. 35 ; John xvii. 5; xxi. 25; Acts xviii. 24; Rom. i. 20), followed that of κόσμος as that external framework of things in which man lives and moves, which exists for him and of which he constitutes the moral centre (John xvi. 21: 1 Cor. xiv. 10; I John iii. 17); here very nearly equivalent to οἰκουμένη (Matt. xxiv. 14; Acts xix. 27); and then the men themselves, the sum total of persons living in the world (John i. 29; iv. 42; 2 Cor. v. 19); and then upon this, and ethically, all not of the ἐκκλησία," alienated from the life of God and by wicked works enemies to Him (1 Cor. i. 20, 21; 2 Cor. vii. 10; Jam. iv. 4). I need hardly call attention here to the immense part which κόσμος thus understood plays in the theology of St. John; both in his record of his Master’s sayings, and in his own writings (John i. 103 vii. 7; xii. 31; 1 Johnii. 163; v. 4); occurring in his Gospel and Epistles more than a hundred times, most often in this sense. On this last use of κόσμος, and on the fact that it should have been utterly strange to the entire heathen world, which had no sense of this opposition between God and man, the holy and unholy, and that the same should have been latent and not distinctly called outeven in the O. T., on all this there are some admirable remarks by Zezschwitz, Profangrdcitét und Bibl. Sprachgewt, pp. 21-24: while on these various meanings of κόσμος, and on the serious confusions which, if not - carefully watched against, may arise therefrom, Augustine (Con. Jul. Pelag. vi. 3, 4) may be consulted with advantage. We must reject the etymology of αἰών which Aristotle (De Cel. i. 9) propounds: ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀεὶ εἶναι εἰληφὼς τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν. It is more probably connected with dw, ἄημι, to breathe. Like κόσμος it has a primary and physical, and then, superinduced on this, a secondary and ethical, 1 Origen indeed (im Joan. 38) mentions some one in his day who interpreted κόσμος as the Church, being as it is the ornament of the world (κόσμος οὖσα τοῦ κόσμου). $.ux. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 217 sense. In its primary, it signifies time, short or long, in its unbroken duration; oftentimes in classical Greek the duration of a human life (Ξε βίος, for which it is exchanged, . Xenophon, Cyrop. iii. 3. 523; οἵ, Plato, Legg. iii. 701 c; Sophocles, Trachin. 2; Elect. 1085: πάγκλαυτον αἰῶνα εἵλου : Pindar, Olymp. ii. 120: ἄδακρυν νέμονται αἰῶνα) ; but essentially time as the condition under which all created things exist, and the measure of their existence ; thus Theodoret: ὁ αἰὼν οὐκ οὐσία τις ἐστίν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνυπόστατον χρῆμα, συμπαρομαρτοῦν τοῖς γεννητὴν ἔχουσι φύσιν" καλεῖται γὰρ αἰὼν καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου συστάσεως μέχρι τῆς συντελείας διάστημα.---αἰὼν τοίνυν ἐστὶ τὸ τῇ κτιστῇ φύσει παρεζευγμένον διάστημα. Thus signifying time, it comes presently to signify all which exists in the world under conditions of time; ‘ die Totalitiit desjenigen, was sich in der Dauer der Zeit ausserlich darstellt, die Welt, sofern sie sich in der Zeit bewegt’ (C. L. W. Grimm; thus see Wisd. xiii. 9; xiv. 6; xviii. 4; Eccles. iii. 11); and then, more ethically, the course and current of this world’s affairs. But this course and current being full of sin, it is nothing wonderful that ὁ αἰὼν οὗτος, set over against ὁ αἰὼν ἐκεῖνος (Luke xx. 35), ὁ αἰὼν ὁ ἐρχομένος (Mark x. 30), ὁ αἰὼν ὁ μέλλων (Matt. xii. 32), acquires presently, like κόσμος, an unfavourable meaning. The βασιλεῖαι τοῦ κόσμου of Matt. iv. 8 are βασιλεῖαι τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου (Ignatius, Ep. ad Rom. 6); God has delivered us by his Son ἐξ ἐνεστῶτος αἰῶνος πονηροῦ (Gal. i. 4); Satan is θεὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου᾽ (2 Cor. iv. 4; cf. Ignatius, Hp. ad Magn. 1: ὁ ἀρχων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου) ; sinners walk κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου (Ephes. ii. 2), too weakly translated in our Version, as in those preceding, “ according to the course of this world.” This last is a particularly instructive passage, for in it both words occur together; Bengel excellently remarking: ‘ αἰών et κόσμος differunt. 1116 hunc regit et quasi informat: κόσμος est quiddam exterius, αἰών subtilius. Tempus [Ξε αἰών] dicitur non solum physice, sed 218 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § ux. etiam moraliter, connotat4 qualitate hominum in eo viventium; et.sic αἰών dicit longam temporum seriem, ubi zetas . mala malam etatem excipit.’ Compare Windischmann (on Gal. i. 4): “ αἰών darf aber durchaus nicht bloss als Zeit gefasst werden, sondern begreift alles in der Zeit befangene; die Welt und ihre Herrlichkeit, die Menschen und ihr natiirliches unerléstes Thun und Treiben in sich, im Contraste zu dem hier nur beginnenden, seiner Sehnsucht und Vollendung nach aber jenseitigen und ewigen, Reiche des Messias.’ We speak of ‘the times,’ attaching to the word an ethical signification ; or, still more to the point, ‘the age,’ ‘the spirit or genius of the age,’ ‘der Zeitgeist.’ All that floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations, at any time current in the world, which it may be impossible to seize and accurately define, but which constitute a most real and effective power, being the moral, or immoral, atmosphere which at every moment of our lives we inhale, again inevitably to exhale,—all this is included in the αἰών, which is, as Bengel has expressed it, the subtle informing spirit of the κόσμος, or world of men who are living alienated and apart from God. ‘ Seculum,’ in Latin has acquired the same sense, as in the familiar epigram of Tacitus (Germ. 19), “ Corrumpere et corrumpi seculum vocatur.” It must be freely admitted that two passages in the Epistle to the Hebrews will not range themselves according to the distinction here drawn between αἰών and κόσμος, namely i. 2 and xi. 3. In both of these αἰῶνες are the worlds contemplated, if not entirely, yet beyond question mainly, under other aspects than those of time. Some indeed, especially modern Socinian expositors, though not without forerunners who had no such motives as theirs, have attempted to explain αἰῶνες at Heb. i. 2, as the successive dispensations, the χρόνοι καὶ καιροί of the divine economy. But however plausible this explanation might διχ. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 219 have been if this verse had stood alone, xi. 3 is decisive that the αἰῶνες in both passages can only be, as we have rendered it, ‘ the worlds,’ and not ‘ the ages.’ I Have called these the only exceptions, for I cannot accept 1 Tim. i. 17 as a third; where αἰῶνες must denote, not ‘the worlds’ in the usual concrete meaning of the term, but, according to the more usual temporal meaning of αἰών ‘in the N. T., ‘the ages,’ the temporal periods whose sum and aggregate adumbrate the conception of eternity. The βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων (cf. Clement of Rome, Cor. 35: ὁ δημιουργὸς καὶ πατὴρ τῶν αἰώνων) will thus be the sovereign dispenser and disposer of the ages during which the mystery of God’s purpose with man is unfolding (see Ellicott, in loco).' For the Hebrew equivalents of the words expressing time and eternity, see Conrad von Orelli, Die Hebriischen Synonyma der Zeit und Ewigkeit, Leipzig, 1871; and for the Greek and Latin, so far as these seek to express them at all, see Pott, Htym. Forsch. ii. 2. 444.
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
κόσμος. Interesting exx. of ὁ κόσμος, ‘‘ the world,” are afforded by OG/S 4583 (c. B.C. 9) (= Priene 105), where the birthday of the divine Augustus is referred to as the beginning of good news to the world—ptev δὲ τῶι κόσμωι τῶν δι᾽ αὐτὸν εὐανγελίζων ἡ γενέθλιος] τοῦ θεοῦ, and Sy// 376%! where, on the occasion of the proclamation of the freedom of all the Greeks at the Isthmian games in a.D. 67, the Emperor Nero is described as 6 τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου κύριος Νέρων. With the hyperbolical usage in Rom 15. we may compare a sepulchral inscr, from Egypt, in which a certain Seratus states that he lies between mother and brother—éy καὶ ἡ σωφροσύνη κατὰ τὸν κόσμον λελάληται (Archiv ν. p. 169, No. 245): see also P Lond 98110 (iv/a.p.) (= III. p. 242, Chrest. I. p. 157) ἡ yap εὐφημία σου, πάτερ, περιεκύκλωσεν τὸν κ[όσ]μον ὅλον ὡς ἀγαθὸν marépa—a letter to a bishop. Other exx. of the word are ΟΟ 15 56% (iii/B.c.) μετελθεῖν εἰς τὸν ἀέναον κόσμον, and PSI III. 157% (an astrological song —iii/A.D. Ὁ) where κόσμος = οὐρανός (cf. Gen 21, Deut πῆς For the plur. = ‘‘ magistrates,” see OG/S 270" (mid. ii/B.C.) ἐπιμ[ε]λὲς γενέσθω τοῖς κόσμοις, ὅπως καρυχθῇ, and for the collective sing. in the same sense see the exx. collected by Dittenberger Sy// 427 n.1: cf. also the use of the compd. εὐκοσμός in 26. 737% (c. A.D. 175) of ‘ magistratus collegii
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
κόσμος (kosmos) — world. κόσμος, ὁ, order, κατὰ κόσμον in order, duly, εὖ κατὰ κ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐ κατὰ κ. shamefully, [Refs 8th c.BC+] to sit in order, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; κ. φέρειν bear becomingly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κόσμῳ οὐδενὶ κοσμηθέντες in no sort of order, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φεύγειν, ἀπιέναι οὐδενὶ κ., [Refs], etc.; ἀτάκτως καὶ οὐδενὶ κ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐκέτι τὸν αὐτὸν κ. no longer in the same order, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: generally, of things, natural order, γίνεται τῶν τεταρταίων ἡ κατάστασις ἐκ τούτου τοῦ κ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]
2. good order, good behaviour [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κ. χείρ, of a beggar, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; κοῖλος μήν short month, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἐξηγεομένων.. τὸν κ. αὐτοῦ the fashion of it, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κ. τόνδε.. ὁ καταστησάμενος who established this order or from, [Refs]
4. of states, order, government, μεταστῆσαι τὸν κ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; especially of the Spartan constitution, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II. ornament, decoration, especially of women, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of a horse, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of men, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; γλαυκόχροα κόσμον ἐλαίας, of an olive-wreath, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κ. ἀργυροῦς a service of plate, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]: plural, ornaments, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: metaphorically, of ornaments of speech, such as epithets, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἁδυμελῆ κ. κελαδεῖν to sing sweet songs of praise, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II.4. κ. νοσήματα internal complaints, [Refs 2nd c.AD+] it does one credit, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of persons, σὺ ἔμοιγε μέγιστος κ. ἔσει [Refs 5th c.BC+]
III. ruler, regulator, title of chief magistrate in Crete, [Refs]; collectively, body of κόσμοι, [Refs]; τοῦ κ. τοῖς πλίασι [Refs 4th c.BC+]; compare κόρμος.
IV. Philos., world-order, universe, first in [Refs 5th c.BC+]: sometimes of the firmament, γῆς ἁπάσης τῆς ὑπὸ τῷ κόσμῳ κειμένης [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μετελθεῖν εἰς τὸν ἀέναον κ., of death, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; but also, of earth, as opposed to heaven, ὁ ἐπιχθόνιος κ. [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; of any region of the universe, ὁ μετάρσιος κ. [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; of the sphere whose centre is the earth's centre and radius the straight line joining earth and sun, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; of the sphere containing the fixed stars, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: in plural, worlds, coexistent or successive, [Refs 6th c.BC+]; also, of stars, Νὺξ μεγάλων κ. κτεάτειρα [Refs 4th c.BC+]; οἱ ἑπτὰ κ. the Seven planets, [Refs]
IV.2. metaphorically, microcosm, ἄνθρωπος μικρὸς κ. [Refs 1st c.AD+]; of living beings in general, τὸ ζῷον οἷον μικρόν τινα κ. εἶναί φασιν ἄνδρες παλαιοί [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
IV.3. in later Gr., ={οἰκουμένη}, the known or inhabited world, [NT+1st c.BC+]; ὁ τοῦ παντὸς κ. κύριος, of Nero, [Refs]; ἐὰν τὸν κ. ὅλον κερδήσῃ [NT]
IV.4. men in general, φανέρωσον σεαυτὸν τῷ κ. [NT]; especially of the world as estranged from God by sin, [NT]
IV.5. οὗτος ὁ κ. this present world, i.e. earth, opposed to heaven, [NT]
V. Pythag.name for six, [Refs]; for ten, [Refs]
